Bolens 1556 Restoration

Picked up this rough old 1556 the other day for $75. Hooked a battery up to it, shot some starter fluid in the carb, and it fired right up. Not sure if it drives, as the gas tank was incorrect and very rusty, so I only got to hear it idle on starter fluid.

So far I've powerwashed the living crap out of it, and removed all the sheet metal for paint. Located a proper gas tank for it, still working on finding a seat for it, and I'll have to replace all 4 tires, as the AGs are completely trashed, and the front tires hold air but they're very dry rotted. I'm afraid I may need rear wheels too, because the one tire holds air, but the wheel has pin holes in it and leaks. Hopefully wheels won't be too hard to find.

Here's some pctures of when i picked it up. Hopefully I'll able to post up some pics of the progress. So far I have a gas tank and both side tins painted up. Still working on wire-wheeling the hood and fender pan. Trying to figure out how I'm going to clean and paint the frame, motor, and axle. Really not wanting to tear it all the way down to bare frame mainly because everytime I do a thing like that, the stuff never goes back together correctly.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you got it to run so far. I think you might want to get it moving about under it's own power before too much paint goes on. Gives you a chance to find any more issues and study how it goes together. Taking pics during the teardown can be a great way to help put it back together.

Well now that I have the correct gas tank and a good idler pulley to hold the belts on, I'm planning on mocking it up and trying to ride it around a bit before I get too deep into the restoration. If this thing has transmission problems, I'm likely to just part it out, since it's in pretty rough shape and will need quite a bit of parts to be right. Last thing I need to do is find someone that knows how to rebuild the transaxle. First things I need to do is top off the hydro fluid and gear fluid in the axle, then I'm gonna try getting it moving on it's own before I disassemble it any more.

Don't give up on it to quickly. If you can get that one running and moving you will really have a nice machine. The hydros are great to cut grass. We don't get enough snow around here for the snowblower action.

I'm in Festus. I don't even have a mower deck to go on it, so it'll most likely just be a show toy, or tow tractor around the house if I get it going. Problem I'm having right now is the tensioner pulley dragging on the belts and making the engine hard to turn. Is there supposed to be some type of lever hooked to the tensioner pulley for starting purposes?

I've been just prying the pulley away from the belts as I'm trying to start it. Got a gas tank hooked up to it, and can't get it to start at all. Pulled the carb and opened it up to see why. The carb is NASTY, rusty, inside and out. Not sure if it will be worth rebuilding or just buying a new one.

It sucks messing with things like this when you're not even sure the transaxle is any good in the first place. The transaxle does make a clicking sound when free-wheeling it. Hopefully that's not going to be an issue? Someone please tell me this is normal?

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Okay, cuz it sounds pretty nasty when you push it really slow, in fwd or reverse. Once you push it a bit faster it goes away. And I see that I'm missing that piece also. I suppose I could probably rig something up to do that job. So you basically hook that on the bolt when you're starting it? Then unhook it to drive?

I'm glad you had a picture of that, I would've never figured it out. Thanks man.

Okay, cuz it sounds pretty nasty when you push it really slow, in fwd or reverse. Once you push it a bit faster it goes away. And I see that I'm missing that piece also. I suppose I could probably rig something up to do that job. So you basically hook that on the bolt when you're starting it? Then unhook it to drive?

I'm glad you had a picture of that, I would've never figured it out. Thanks man.

The Idler Lockout is used when starting in cold conditions or when you want to push the tractor... No need to use the lockout when regularly Starting.

The Idler Lockout is used when starting in cold conditions or when you want to push the tractor... No need to use the lockout when regularly Starting.

Hm, well this one won't even crank fast enough to start without using the lockout. Is there something else I need to check out that may be causing it? As soon as I pull that pulley out of the way, the motor cranks very fast.

I dunno what I did the first time to get this thing started, but now I've got a gas tank on and even with a ton of ether, it won't even fire. It's getting plenty of spark, because I just had a backfire through the carb and a small fire underneath the carb where some gasoline dripped. I've also pulled the plug and it's getting spark at the plug.

There is fuel in the bowl, and even with multiple shots of ether, it still won't start. I didn't even have to try before and I had it running. Is there something that needs to be wired up or grounded properly to the body that would cause it to not run? I took all the sheetmetal off, and regrounded the solenoid so it would start, but the 'heatsink' looking thing is not attached anymore. Not sure if that's important, or needs to be grounded. I just find it strange that I can't get it to run suddenly.

Alright guys, I'm at a dead stop at this point. I can't get this thing to run for the life of me. I took the carb apart and clean it up, and it's getting fuel from the pump, because I had an issue with the bowl leaking, and after cranking awhile the bowl was filling up.

Even with starter fluid, all I get is a couple backfires (and sometimes flames) out of the carburetor. I took the valve cover off, and it doesn't seem like the rockers are loose. But during cranking, I am getting puffs of air out of the breather tube seal on the compression stroke. Is it possible that I'm losing enough compression through that tiny leak that it's not firing?

I know for a fact I have good spark. And fuel, well I'm not 100% on, but it should at least putt with a shot of starter fluid, and it won't even do that. I do know that my regulator/rectifier is not grounded, but I don't see that mattering, as I still have good spark, and have seen flames come out of the carburetor.

Is it possibly something to do with timing? I had this thing running on starter fluid the day I picked it up, and since I removed the sheet metal, now it won't start.

Nad, Sometimes backing off for a few is better than the hot and heavy scramble. And yeah I know how it feels to wanna have her up and running. I just don't want you do more harm than good. Sounds like you're hitting heavy with that starter fluid too. Best o luck to ya!

I doubt you timing is off. Removing the covers shouldn't affect timing in any way. My suggestion is to check the compression. These OHV Tecumseh engines are known to have the valve seat fall out of the head. I was using my brother's H16 about a month ago and its Tecumseh OH160 engine had the intake valve seat fall out after I shut it off for a few minutes.

I got the tractor running again on starter fluid, and for just a minute on gas, but then the carb flooded and sprayed gas all over. Working on trying to either find a good rebuild kit for this carb or find a replacement carb. Might be looking to swap to a different carb, because this particular model is impossible to find.